byLarry Eder
Witness the Wonder, World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023, Day 9: Meet Anita Marton, Hungarian star shot putter, who has deadly last round throws! What will she do in Budapest?
Updated April 26, 2023 with new photos courtesy of Getty Images /LOC Budapest 2023
For the next 36 days, RunBlogRun will be posting a story a day on the buildup to the World Athletics Outdoor Championships, to be held in Budapest, Hungary, from August 19-August 27, 2023.
Hungary has a long sports tradition, and athletics is one of its most popular. Of the ten Olympic gold medals won by Hungary, five of them are from the hammer throw!
Hungary has won 10 golds, 12 silver, and 18 bronze medals in the modern Olympic Games since 1896.
Anita Marton won the Olympic bronze medal in Rio de Janeiro.
So, here’s the deal about Anita Marton. This Hungarian athletics star is a focused competitor.
Since 2015, Anita has won senior medals each year. In the 2014 World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland, Anita showed the world she was in the medal fight, taking sixth. At the European Indoor Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, one of my favorite championships ever, Anita won the shot put with a strong throw of 19.23m. The Hungarian star, emboldened by the European gold, took fourth in Beijing 2015 World Outdoor Champs with a 19.48m throw.
This writer became reacquainted with Anita Marton when she stormed to the lead in the 2016 World Indoor Championships, taking gold with a throw of 19.33 meters. Marton then took the silver in the 2016 European Outdoor Championships in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Her throw was 18.72 meters. In Rio de Janeiro, at the Engenhao Stadium, this writer watched Anita Marton take bronze in a tough competition, where 19.87 meters gave her third!
What is the gift that Anita Maraon has in competition? I have watched the Hungarian in total focus in her competitions, responding to the challenges of the competition.
Anita Marton started 2017 very well, taking the gold in the shot put in Belgrade, Serbia.
Her big challenge was in London in 2017. In round 5, Thomas-Dodd pushed Marton into fifth, and in round six, Anita Marton powered herself into the silver medal in 19.49 meters (She also competed in the discus, taking 24th).
This is what she told the Daily News Hungary about her silver medal and the success of Hungarian athletes in London in 2017”
“I was competing for a medal here. It was a very tough competition, but I expected to be among the top three, as I was third on the world ranking list. It was a great joy to feel and hear the spectators; many Hungarian fans were rooting for me. My silver and Balázs Baji’s bronze mean a lot to Hungary. I was third all the way when in the fifth round, the Jamaican bested me, and I fell back to fourth place. I knew I was able to get back and to get above 19, and I did it”
In 2018, Anita defended her World Indoor title from Portland 2016, taking gold n Birmingham, United Kingdom.
The World Championships in Doha reminded Anita Marton that no one is guaranteed of a medal, with the Hungarian star taking fifth in Qatar.
In 2021, Anita Marton did not have a successful Olympics, taking 21rst in the delayed 2021 Olympics.
Anita has begun 2023 strongly with a sixth-place showing in the European Indoors in Istanbul, Turkey. The Hungarian threw 18.28 meters.
For Anita Marton to get back in the medal fight, she is going to have to throw 19.75 meters or so. Can she do it?
It is remarkable what an athlete can do in front of their home crowd and with a stadium of Hungarian fans cheering her on. Anita Marton would love to end her career with a big medal in Budapest.
This writer thinks that her massive talent and drive are coming to a pinnacle. Watch Anita Marton this August in Budapest! She should put on quite a display of her shot put prowess.
To read all of our earlier stories in Witness the Wonder, numbers 1-7:
1. Witness the Wonder, World Outdoor Athletics Championships Budapest 2023, Day 1; Welcome to the World Champs! https://runblogrun.com/2023/04/witness-the-wonder-world-outdoor-athletics-championships-budapest-2023-day-1-welcome-to-the-world-champs.html
2. Witness the Wonder, World Outdoor Athletics Championships Budapest 2023, Day 2, Meeting the Stars of Hungarian Athletics! https://www.runblogrun.com/2023/04/witness-the-wonder-world-outdoor-athletics-championships-budapest-2023-day-2-meeting-the-stars-of-hungarian-athletics.html
3. Witness the Wonder, World Outdoor Athletics Championships Budapest 2023, Day 3, Why you should go to Budapest! https://www.runblogrun.com/2023/04/witness-the-wonder-world-outdoor-athletics-championships-budapest-2023-day-3.html
4. Witness the Wonder, World Outdoor Athletics Championships Budapest 2023, Day 4, Mondo Duplantis & Nafi Thiam are Europe’s finest; how will they do in Budapest? https://www.runblogrun.com/2023/04/witness-the-wonder-world-outdoor-athletics-championships-budapest-2023-day-3-mondo-duplantis-nafi-thiam-are-europes-finest-how-will-they-do-in-budapest.html
5. Witness the Wonder, World Championships Budapest 2023, Day 5, Just What Will Faith Kipyegon Do in Budapest? https://www.runblogrun.com/2023/04/witness-the-wonder-world-championships-budapest-2023-day-5-just-what-will-faith-kipyegon-do-in-budapest.html
6. Witness the Wonder, World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023, Day 6, Mutaz Essa Barshim. Will he take a 4th straight title in Budapest? https://www.runblogrun.com/2023/04/witness-the-wonder-world-athletics-championships-budapest-2023-mutaz-essa-barshim-will-he-take-a-4th-straight-title-in-budapest.html
7. Witness the Wonder, World Athletics Outdoor Champs Budapest 2023, Day 7, Noah Lyles wants to burn up the track in Budapest in August! https://www.runblogrun.com/2023/04/witness-the-wonder-world-athletics-outdoor-champs-budapest-2023-noah-lyles-wants-to-burn-up-the-track-in-budapest-in-august.html
8. Witness the Wonder, World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023, Day 8, all About the National Athletics Center https://www.runblogrun.com/2023/04/witness-the-wonder-world-athletics-championships-budapest-2023-day-8-all-about-the-national-athletics-center.html
The World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, will be held August 19-27, 2023, and tickets are available now! Click here to learn more about ticket sales: https://tickets.wabudapest23.com/
To learn more about the stars of Hungarian athletics, please enjoy this article: https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-championships/budapest23/news/news/past-heroes-of-hungarian-athletics-and-future-talents-of-the-world-championships
Your favorite writer suggests a wonderful book on Hungary, The Hungarians, A Thousand Years of Victory in Defeat, by Paul Lendvai, Translated by Ann Major, Princeton University Press, www.pupress.princeton.edu.
